Welcome to the Underwater Photography Guide. This online book and magazine is a complete underwater photography tutorial full of u/w photography tips and techniques. Our idea is simple - learn, shoot, explore. We hope you enjoy and come back often - Scott Gietler, Owner of UWPG and Bluewater Photo & Travel.

Dive Adventure

Incredible dive adventure articles, dive stories and marine life encounters from oceans around the world.

Go behind the scenes with French explorer Alban Michon while diving some of the coldest and most remote locations on earth

Go behind the scenes with French explorer Alban Michon while diving some of the coldest and most remote locations on earth

Many of us (fortunate) underwater photographers have traveled across the world to go scuba diving. We plan and book a trip, pack the gear, and then fly to a country where we are swiftly esorted into a resort or onto a liveaboard boat. The guides show us some great reefs and marine life, and before we know it, we're back on the plane heading home.

But what if you remove the soft resort and liveaboard beds? Take away the warm meals. And dive guides... what dive guides? This is becomes the world of dive expeditions.

French explorer Alban Michon is no stranger to dive expeditions. He has a resume that boasts several polar expeditions and is no stranger to diving beneath the sea ice and paddling up to a bleak (yet beautiful) camp site in a kayak.

Below we take a photo journey through some behind the scenes moments of Alban's expeditions.

About Alban Michon

Alban Michon, French, 35, begins to dive at 11 years of age. In 1999, Alban becomes a professional diving instructor; in 2000 he opens his own ice diving school in Tignes (Savoie-France) and in 2005 he opens «Vasques du Quercy», an underground diving school near Rocamadour (Lot-France).

In 2010, he takes part in the polar expedition «Deepsea Under The Pole», and in 2012, he organises a second expedition, on the east coast of Groenland together with Vincent Berthet. The film «Le piège blanc» shows part of the adventure.

Alban has also worked with «Abyssworld», a specialised travel agency, and with filmmakers such as Luc Besson and Jacques Audiart as a under water technical advisor. He is a speaker for many conferences and talks about the awareness of the power we all have inside ourselves, no matter how hard the situation is. His major goal right now is to showcase the know-how of french companies by making an experimental under water project.

Sharing photos and the life story of Rajan, the beloved swimming elephant of the Andaman Islands

Most stories of large animals in captivity are sad ones – they speak of miserable animals – magnificent lives sacrificed for entertainment and pretty pictures. Rajan – the beloved swimming elephant of the Andaman Islands – is the rare exception. His is a story where the dive community came together to give him back a freedom that had been snatched from him young, and he in turn became the perfect muse.

Elephants were first brought into the Andaman Islands when India was still under British rule. They were taken from Kerala and Karnataka and walked to the coast of Chennai. Here they were put on ships to the Andaman Islands where they were used to drag timber from the deep forests of the islands to the ships that would export them away. Rajan was one such elephant. His career in logging ended in 2002, when the Indian Government banned the practice. Shortly after that Rajan shot to fame, starring in a Hollywood film called The Fall.

It was this film, shot in the year 2004, that brought him to Havelock Island. Rajan’s owner was about to sell him off to a temple in Kerala, which would not only put him through a perilous journey but also condemn him to a life of confinement and drudgery, when a dive resort on Havelock Island stepped in. They raised money to buy him from his owners, and set him free – along with his lifelong mahout Nazroo – in the dense Havelock jungle where we was to spend the rest of his life.

Every evening Rajan used to walk down to the beach. He used to lie in the sand as Nazroo – helped by tourists and their kids – scrubbed him clean with coconut husks and seawater. He made for many an iconic picture as he walked the white sandy beach, glowing in the rays of the setting sun. But the most unique pictures of possibly any elephant in the whole world were those that underwater photographers took of Rajan as he played in the waves during his daily swim.

Divers and snorkelers flocked from all over the world came to photograph Rajan swimming in the clear Andaman sea. His big lungs gave him fantastic buoyancy. His long trunk made a perfect snorkel. He really seemed to enjoy the ocean almost as much as the tiny divers that weaved through his doggy-paddling legs.

As he grew older he swam less frequently. The dive resort was very particular about putting Rajan’s wishes first. Many a diver had to return dry and disappointed because the old man was tired. Luckily, it was bright, sunny and Rajan must have had a good night’s sleep before the morning Sumer Verma went to photograph him. It gave us some of the most stunning pictures which continue to immortalize the gentle giant after he passed away in his sleep in August 2016. He died in the wild, under a canopy of trees and stars. His last breath was the sea breeze from an ocean that had brought him luck.

- Text by Nayantara Jane. Photos by Sumer Verna.

A Video Tribute to Rajan

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Rajan Swims

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Sumer Verna started diving in 1997 and completely fell in love with the sea and all its creatures. Since then he has pursued his passion for the oceans singlemindedly and has logged more than 6000 dives and is one of Indias most experienced and accomplished diving instructors and underwater photographers.Through his passion for diving and filming underwater Sumer has travelled far and wide from the Galapagos islands to the far corners of Indonesia and explored most diving sites around Indias Lakshadweep and Andaman islands.He currently manages Lacadives dive schools who were the pioneers of scuba diving in India setting up their first dive school in the Lakshadweep islands way back in 1995 and works on the board of Reefwatch Marine Conservation an NGO set up to bring awareness about Indias coral reefs.Sumers underwater photography work has expanded from wildlife to also encompass fashion shoots for vogue magazine , travel stories for condenast traveller and national geographic as well as film shoots for various production houses from Bollywood to the south.He is currently working on a number of projects simultaneously one of them being a wildlife book in collaboration with the administration of the Andaman islands.

A tale of exploring Fiji after a devastating cyclone to find happy locals, great scuba diving and beautiful reefs

Last fall, my local diving season got canned by the start of a cold El Niño wet winter, begging for an escape to the tropics. Fiji is a short hop from my home in New Zealand and the numerous flights throughout the day make travel quick and easy.

Volivoli Beach Resort, on the Suncoast near Rakiraki township, is a firm favourite for New Zealand divers, not only for its close proximity to the Bligh Strait and world class reefs, but the wonderful hospitality, chilled vibe, and the ease with which they accommodate divers from beginners to techies.

Images from my last trip are full of blue skies, sunshine, palm trees, azure seas, multi-coloured soft corals, smiles and diving in a 3mm wetsuit, and I was eager to revisit the “soft coral capital of the world" on a group trip led by Global Dive Auckland. But my goodness, my last trip was in 2013 - had it really been 3 years? I was well overdue for a trip, but how would things be different in Fiji post cyclone Winston?

Cyclone Winston

Fiji, particularly the Ra Province, got hammered by the second largest storm recorded in history: Cyclone Winston. Unlike the in movie starring Tom Hanks, ‘Castaway’, Winston was no friend – it was a cyclone with winds in excess of 375km/h, which arrived, left, and then swung back around to cause more damage.

Volivoli Beach Resort got hit. Staff and guests took refuge in the Deluxe and Ocean View Rooms, which luckily received only minor damage. Unfortunately, the Premium Ocean View Villas were wrecked, as was the main restaurant/bar. Luckily family and staff were uninjured, but others weren’t so; 44 people lost their lives in Fiji and more than 35,000 were made homeless.

Volivoli Beach Resort is semi-closed at this time for repair, and the Darling family is taking the opportunity to undertake improvements, officially re-opening its doors on November 1st.

Visiting Fiji and Scuba Diving

During the transfer to the resort the cyclone damage was evident, but people were getting on with their lives despite shortages of building materials that are holding things back a little.

I wasn’t sure what to expect at the resort, or the condition of the reefs post cyclone and was prepared for the worst. Upon arrival at Volivoli Beach Resort I was pleasantly surprised; the gardens were still blooming with bougainvillea and the sweet smell of frangipanis, and I was greeted with that familiar vista from the headland with the sun heading for a glorious sunset!

Evidence of Winton’s visit was everywhere: damaged villas awaiting work, the restaurant roof being re-constructed and re-establishing trees showing new growth and recovery. Builders were hard at work and the resort staff apologetic; there was no need though, as the privilege of being there and our minimally reduced comfort paled in comparison to their hard work to recovery.

Dive planning is weather dependent and with some wind present our first few days we stuck to the wonderful local reefs, which didn't appear to have suffered from cyclone damage. We dived ‘Neptunes Rapsody’, a myriad of swim-throughs, clown fish/anemones, schooling fish, white tip and grey reef sharks, We also dived ‘Golden Dreams’, which was ablaze with hanging yellow soft corals, gorgonian fans, swim-through, and black coral to name a few. At the safety stop of every dive, a finale of climatic colour explosion by the millions of Lyretail Anthias, Blue/Purple Eye Anthias crowning the tops of the reefs.

The wind eased and we got out to the outer reefs for a 3 and a 2 dive day. The reefs were incredible, pristine, with no damage from the cyclone. The viz was 20-30m+, with schooling fish in abundance and beautiful soft corals, nudibranchs, and sharks every dive.

We dived sites such as “Instant Replay”, which is an aptly named drift dive that was over before it began! ‘Purple Haze’ featured walls of black coral and gorgonian fans. ‘Heartbreak Ridge’ was loaded with amazing swim-through and massive gorgonian fans. And my favourite, ‘Mellow Yellow’, which is a coral stack 30m in diameter, with walls down to 60m covered in every kind of soft coral and colour you can imagine - a photographer's dream for both wide-angle and macro – just amazing.

After a no dive day of chilling it was time to head home and back to the New Zealand winter... brrr. The question, is there life after Winston? The answer - you bet there is, in abundance with bells! And I look forward to returning in November when the Volivoli re-opens.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Gareth Bellamy: My passion for diving spans 33 years, being underwater is home. I liken the experience to starring in the matrix – connected, as one, with everything in the ocean. I have been privileged to have dived at some of the world’s beautiful places. I am based in Raglan North Island NZ and love the Poor Knights Islands.

Ancient Underwater City or Natural Formation? Scuba Divers are baffled by this dive site in Japan

A unique dive site off the coast of Yonaguni has been intriguing both archeologists and divers. It is located on a remote island west of Naha (Okinawa's Capital), Japan. It is known for schools of hammerhead sharks, but especially for the mysterious underwater formation that has long been a subject of debate. Is this massive linear rock formation a natural geological feature or an ancient city that is now underwater?

During the winter months, Yonaguni is very popular among scuba divers looking to see the large population of hammerhead sharks. The discovery of the location was made by Mr. Kihachiro Aratake while scouting the area for new hammerhead shark schooling sites several decades ago.

Upon further inspection, he discovered something unusual; a formation that appeared to be a man-made terraced structure. He believes that the structure was from an ancient civilization dating back to the last ice age, approximately 10,000 B.C. If accurate, this struction pre-dates the pyramids of Egypt.

Shortly after discovery, a professor from the University of the Ryukyus, Masaaki Mikura, began to survey the location of the structure. Mikura also believed that the site is evidence of an advanced civilization, although many still argue that it is a natural formation.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Chino Mendoza , is an avid diver and underwater photographer and tries to go everytime he can. He is based in Manila which is a few hours Anilao which is the “critter capital of the Philippines” He likes to shoot macro and his favorite subjects are nudibranchs and frogfishes.

I felt guilty once as the only guest out of eighteen on a 12 day liveaboard who wanted to go on a night dive one evening. The dive guide said, “Let’s go!” and after that 90-minute one-on-one experience, I became hooked on night dives. It seems tough to beat the day dives on such trips, but night dives are an opportunity to do some serious critter hunting without a lot of effort. Simply put, things come out at night.

My most recent series of night dives took place in three different underwater environments on a liveaboard trip through Northern Raja Ampat in Indonesia: a jetty, a traditional white sand muck site, and reefs/walls of small islands.

Arborek Jetty (Dampier Strait)

Arborek Jetty is a classic site that nearly all divers visit before leaving Raja Ampat. In the daytime, there are plenty of reasons to explore way beyond the jetty (like, the giant clams). At night, however, time (and air) will run out quickly without even moving much from the jetty and the rubble patch underneath. Nudibranchs are prolific here, and their vibrant colors give them away in this landscape so that anyone can suddenly feel like an expert in spotting critters.

One of the critters I have never found on my own is the blue-ringed octopus, a macro creature that happens to be the most venomous on Earth. I have no idea exactly where you find them. I just know that it’s somewhere in the rubble, and that they are almost a sure thing to see at this site. Yes, within minutes of our descent, my guide pointed one out to me.

Crabs, in my opinion, are the comedians of the marine world. They run around with flora or even fauna living on their bodies for camouflage, and might even be born to look that way. The crab of the evening looked like a tangle of chicken wire with eyes that could only be located after looking at the photograph.

Cendana Pearl Farm Jetty (Aljui Bay)

It took only a couple dives to discover that Aljui Bay competes with Misool in the south as a soft coral and color factory in the sea. It is a cozy spot on the Earth - a secluded bay where you are surrounded by walls of green-ness growing straight out of limestone. The only other evidence of the world as we know it is the pearl farm.

We had three night dives around the pearl farm jetty. The area was an unexpected white sand desert in between the marvelous island walls covered with soft and hard corals that we viewed during the day. I was up to the challenge of finding anything, and soon a pair of flounder eyes peering above the sand gave me hope that there was more life to come.

Someone else might have been hoping also. An enormous lionfish with a huge fin span that was either lonely or just attracted to my light (maybe both) started following me around. It was a little unnerving to have him follow me so closely (each night!); not because I thought he would purposefully injure me, but injure me by accident, like he was the Edward Scissorhands of Aljui Bay.

There were no bommies (and no garbage!) with which to orient ourselves at first - just the depth on our computers and the sand. Desperate, I saw a small log and without thinking about it, flipped it over. A cockatoo wasp fish was underneath! Why he needed to be under the log in the dark, I am not sure, but it was a good reminder to look and not touch underwater.

Basket seastars were outstretched over some bommies, exposing their tiny shrimp. I marveled at how quickly they began to coil up in response to my light. One night we found a frogfish. You could tell he was a long term resident. He looked so much like the rock he was living next to that he made me wonder if I had actually seen him.

At the end of each dive, a pair of Pegasus sea moths appeared. These creatures always come in pairs. They remind me of wind-up toys that move in one direction until they hit something and go in another. They do not seem to know where they are going, but wherever they are headed, they go together.

Mioskon (Dampier Strait)

When you think of Raja Ampat, it is mostly the reef and wall scenes that come to mind first. The last several night dives all took place in sloping wall/reef environments. There were the things you might expect to see - a sleeping wobbegong, a cuttlefish - and then the things you might not expect, like a wide-angle-sized nudibranch, the Platydoris.

My prize for diligently examining the reef at Mioskon was two gigantic saron shrimp. These are incredibly intricately designed shrimp with spots, hair, and long legs that they seem unable to control. This pair was quite large, but nevertheless shy (at least in the bright light).

Batu Rufus (Penemu)

If there are lessons to learn on a dive, then this one was about how to locate animals by microenvironment. This dive was exceptional, one that even my Indonesian guide after seven years at the job simply stated, “I liked it too.” The mushroom corals contained pipefish and an ornate ghost pipefish was hiding near a crinoid. Sea cucumbers were like a city bus due to their size and their passengers: spider crabs, isopods, and even nudibranchs. When the crabs did not cooperate, I still came home with a photograph, but of the spectacular pattern on the candy cane sea cucumber itself.

I also discovered that the hydroid is an important microenvironment. Nudibranchs, of course, we had found on hydroids. What I did not know, is that the hydroid is a habitat for skeleton shrimp. The hydroids in Batu Rufus were homes not to just a few skeleton shrimp, but thousands. I could almost hear them talking.

East Mansuar (Dampier Strait)

You could fill up your critter check list at this site (in a little over an hour), and if you were not into that, you could spend your time examining the coral polyps open in the night. As if none of that was enough, something I had never seen before, a toadfish, made a brief appearance before us. They are apparently extremely shy. The toadfish that we had discovered behaved accordingly, as it unfortunately disappeared the moment we spotted it.

After seeing all of this life in Raja Ampat after dark, we have to wonder what will happen in our dreams.

About the Author

Janice Nigro is an avid scuba diver with a PhD in biology. She is a scientist who has studied the development of human cancer at universities in the USA and Norway. She has more recently discovered the benefits of artistic expression through underwater photography and story writing of her travel adventures (www.janikiink.com). Her current home is Hermosa Beach, California.

Analyzing depth, light and camera angles for Caribbean reef sharks based on a digital dive profile

Shark diving attracts bubble blowers from all over the world. These seasonally timed dives can almost guarantee seeing at least one or two sharks in close proximity - a far more exhillarating experience (albeit less natural) than crossing a shark during a traditional dive.

Baited shark dives take two forms. The first is using chum to attract sharks, who linger based on curiousity of a meal or promise of an easy snack. This is a great way to support shark tourism and resulting benefits without shifting the sharks' behavior much. The second is shark feeding, which is popular with larger species and presents photographers with some high-adrenaline photo opportunities.

Shark diving is new to me. I've had some spine-tingling natural encounters with sharks while snorkeling and freediving, plus regular scuba encounters with whitetips and blacktips, but had never jumped in the water with reef sharks baited in via chum. Our Caribbean reef shark dives in Bimini, Bahamas during Bluewater Photo's recent small group photo trip certainly changed that. Sure, these aren't great whites or great hammerheads or tiger sharks, but they're still very impressive and majestic fish capable of radical behavior changes.

Our first reef shark dive was on a windy day that kept us away from dolphins north of Bimini, so we didn't have excellent vis and were shooting through big shifts in light as clouds passed overhead. I took a COSMIQ dive computer down on the dive and later paired the log with my photos in the Deepblu dive log and social app (via bluetooth) to share the data you see below for each shot.

The Shark Dive Begins

Shot: Dialing in the settings as I observed the sharks' swim patterns. I wanted some shark-on-the-reef shots to show the slow-swimming peacefulness of the sharks.

Position: Near the bottom, away from the boat/bucket with sun to my right.

Settings: 14mm focal length, ISO 200, f/8, 1/200

Shot: Still working on shark-on-the-reef shots away from the group. This shark came in from the side on a high line, allowing me to shoot up and capture some of the ocean surface.

Position: Near the bottom away from the boat, sun above left.

Settings: 14mm focal length, ISO 200, f/8, 1/250

Shot: The sharks stopped swimming laps where I had been, so I moved close to the boat to work on some portraits using a slightly closer focal length. The sun is behind cloud cover in this one, resulting in dark water.

Position: Near the bottom, with boat and chum bucket on left, sun roughly at my back.

Settings: 17mm focal length, ISO 200, f/8, 1/250

Shot: Hanging in the water column now to try and take advantage of the sharks swimming closer to surface while making some very close passes.

Position: Mid-water, shooting away from boat for clean background.

Settings: 17mm focal length, ISO 200, f/8, 1/200

Shot: Another portrait shot. I try to take advantage of divers in the frame, but can't take credit for not clipping the diver/shark. Notice the monotonous tone of the water - the result of a cloud passing in front of the sun again.

Position: Back near the bottom to try and shoot up at the sharks.

Settings: 17mm focal length, ISO 320, f/8, 1/250

Shot: This shark was making a close pass so I took a shot even though the perspective was downward. The trick was to wait to fire the shot until the shark was at the closest point with tail photogenically curved.

Position: Mid-water column again to intercept the sharks' swim patterns.

Settings: 17mm focal length, ISO 320, f/8, 1/250

Shot: Working on depicting the full scene, telling the story of the dive. Still shooting dark water because of cloud cover. I opened up the exposure a bit in order to shoot at a downward angle.

Position: Shallow, mid-water near the chum bucket.

Settings: 17mm focal length, ISO 320, f/6.3, 1/200

Shot: Another shark portrait away from the boat. Notice the cloud cover and bland water again. I was still trying to shoot the big picture, but had to take advantage of this close pass framed out into the blue.

Position: Mid-water, facing away from the boat.

Settings: 17mm focal length, ISO 250, f/6.3, 1/200

Shot: Another storytelling shot, intentially shooting towards the boat and bucket as the shark reached its closest point of the pass (while still at approach angle/perspective).

Position: Mid-water under the boat. Sun is overhead and at my left. *Note: never dive under the boat unless very comfortable with buoyancy skills.

Settings: 17mm focal length, ISO 200, f/6.3, 1/250

There we have it. Our second Caribbean reef shark dive was a couple days later in much nicer conditions, but I'll save those photos for another time.

After several land-based dive trips to the Philippines, it was exciting to be leading the Bluewater Photo Workshop aboard the Philippine Siren on a 12-day special itinerary designed to dive the best the Visayas Sea has to offer and maximize photography opportunities. Prior to this trip, I received numerous questions from people about what lenses they should bring and my advice was, “No regrets! If you have it, better bring it.”

This trip featured the smallest critters (baby frogfish, skeleton crabs, shrimps, nudibranchs, seahorses) to the largest fish (whale sharks) and amazing reefs and everything in between. So the hardest choice of the day for many of us, after deciding which way to have your eggs prepared, was which lens to use for each dive. But the fact that we would hit some of the best sites multiple times made this decision a little less stressful, as did the advice of the dive masters. The trip included an available 40 dives (typically 3 day / 1 night) at sites around Balicasag, Cabilao, Oslob, Dauin Coast, Apo Island, Moalboal, and Malapascua, which took us completely around the large Island of Cebu in a clockwise direction.

Cabilao

“So what are you waiting for?”

This was not only the mantra of the Philippine Siren crew; they used it when the food was ready to eat and after the dive briefings to get everyone moving and in the water. We dove off of the ship's 2 inflatable skiffs in three groups, which intended to spread things out at the dive sites and make for less chaos on the dive deck. Our fist day was spent diving at various sites at Cabilao just off the island of Bohol. The sites around Cabilao, like most of the sites, are great macro sites because the reefs are teaming with critters and fish. Sites like Gorgonian Wall and Lighthouse have incredible walls and reefs covered with large soft corals, sponges and sea fans making for terrific wide-angle photography.

Photo left: A stealthy scorpionfish patiently waits in this purple on the side of a wall at Cabilao. ISO 200, F/16, 1/200Photo right: The healthy soft coral of Cabilao. ISO 200, F/16, 1/250

Balicasag

For the next two days, we called the waters around Balicasag home and dove sites called Sanctuary, Black Forest, Turtle Point, Diver’s Heaven, and Rudy’s Rock. Black Forest and Turtle Point were green sea turtle paradise with large fields of turtle grass like an all-you-can-eat buffet. These were some of the healthiest and largest turtles I have ever seen. If you approached them slowly and looked down and pretended to eat grass like them, you could get very close to the turtles.

But turtles weren’t the only star of Balicasag. The surrounding walls and reefs were teaming with purple anthias, fang blennies, schools of long jawed mackerel and jacks, lionfish, snake eels, several varieties of nembrotha and chromodoris nudibranchs, and various crustaceans all over. There was a reason we did two full days of diving here and dived some of the sites multiple times. Our dives at Balicasag made it difficult to choose a lens when not diving in the turtle grass, so I added a section on shooting macro with wide-angle lenses to my workshop. No need to pass up on that fish behavior, the new nudibranch or other small critter just because you didn’t have your macro lens on.

Oslob

The town of Oslob on the Island of Cebu is a unique opportunity to dive with whale sharks. Several years ago, the local fisherman had problems with whale sharks getting caught in their nets so they decided to throw handfuls of shrimp in the water away from the nets. This resolved the net problem but they found the whale sharks hung around their boats waiting for a free meal. So the Oslob locals decided to set up eco-tourism to educate people on the whale sharks and to support research. This form of eco-tourism is somewhat controversial because of the modified behavior of the whale sharks, but their research has shown that only a few sharks have continued to frequent the shallows of Oslob regularly and that most only hang out for a short time as they pass by the area. And by noon, the whale sharks typically leave the area and travel to the waters off of Cebu for the majority of their feeding. We received an educational briefing on the whale sharks and then set out at the crack of dawn to scuba dive with them. Typically, people actually snorkel with them and are not permitted to scuba dive with whale sharks. This was a unique experience and for those on the trip that had never seen a whale shark, it was quite exciting and presented a different opportuity for photographs.

Dauin Coast

The Dauin Coast, also referred to as Dumaguete because of where you fly into, is critter heaven and home to some amazing muck diving. Every dive is like a scavenger hunt and you never know what strange little creature your DM is going to point out. When we were there, everything seemed to be mating, have eggs, or were newly born babies. This is the exact reason that Bluewater scheduled a photo workshop at the land based Atmosphere Resort and Spa immediately after the Siren cruise ended. This also why our Siren itinerary had three days in the area for muck diving and nearby Apo Island. On one dive we saw 9 baby frogfish ranging in size of a small pea to the size of a quarter. Night dives are also a treat here with frequent octopus, flamboyant cuttlefish, decorator crabs and other critters out hunting in the safety of darkness.

Apo Island

Apo is a small little island a short distance from Dauin, and we dove three times at the Island. Apo is known for its pristine hard coral gardens and resident population of turtles and sea snakes. A typhoon hit Apo a few years back but it is amazing how quickly the corals and marine life have recovered where we dove. The north side of the island is still in a protected status because it got hit the hardest and has not recovered as fast. Visibility at Apo was not ideal the day we were there, but we were still able to enjoy the diving at Coconut Point, Chapel and Rocky Point West. Coconut Point was a swift current dive in the beginning with several spots that were protected so that a diver could duck behind a the reef for reprieve. The corals are very healthy along the wild ride and we saw a large school of jacks and barracuda in addition to at least a dozen sea snakes and turtles fly by.

Moalboal

The two days spent diving around Moalboal were a real treat with incredible photography diversity.

Pescador Island has a massive cavern called the cathedral that has a very eerie silhouette opening and is often full of schooling fish. Several of us dove it twice after doing a special workshop on ambient light photography and silhouettes to improve our opportunity to capture the essence of the cavern. The shallow reefs surrounding Pescador Island were alive with marine life and several people spent their entire dive in the shallows. The Siren crew planned our afternoon dive at Panagsama Beach, where a resident school of over 7 million sardines resides. It is a must-dive spot. This was an amazing site to photograph, video and just watch the mesmerizing flow of the school. The school was so thick at times that when it passed overhead, day became night with the eclipse. We also dove at Sanctuary for some great macro and later a small airplane wreck at 90’ that the siren had never visited but two of our guests had previously dove. The plane provided a great backdrop for some creative photographs with the help of our experienced and brave diver Dan McGanty.

Malapascua

If you are a big animal photographer and you hear "Malapasqua," you immediately think of thresher sharks, as it is one of the only places that you can consistently see them at a cleaning station. I dove with the thresher sharks of Malapasqua several years earlier and they were one of the star attractions on this itinerary that people wanted to see. Unfortunately after two early morning dives to 90ft on the cleaning station the illusive sharks proved that wildlife is just that, wild and free to roam. It was very rare that they did not make an appearance, but actually had not been seen for several days, so we will need to return and try our luck another time. But we were all treated to several friendly spotted eagle rays near the surface, which is a treat. Malapasqua also has good macro diving and lots of soft coral, so we took advantage of the great photo opportunities that Mother Nature presented.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Ron Watkins is an international award winning photographer and writer. He has been passionate about underwater photography since 1996 and his photography has appeared in magazines, websites, juried art displays, national aquariums, libraries and private collections. More of Ron’s photography may be viewed at www.scubarews.com.

Find out why the Galapagos Islands should be your #1 destination for underwater photography and videography

When I visited the Galapagos Islands in late January 2016, I was unaware that I was about to have a trip of a lifetime. I was hoping to see some big animals underwater, but I was unaware how extraordinary these encounters would be. Please allow me to share them with you, along with some tips on how to capture these types of underwater photos.

Hammerhead Sharks

Wolf and Darwin Islands offer close, intimate encounters with hammerhead sharks. Over and over and over again. The trick is to sign up for a trip that is going to *really* focus on hammerheads - # of dives, where you are going to dive, and being with a group that will "follow the rules" for close hammerhead encounters.

A lens with a little reach is essential, as is constantly doing practise shots, using a setup you are very familiar with, and using gear that can focus fast and shoot fast. Jan - June will offer clearer water for better quality photos.

Be prepared for a shot as you enter the water, because there will often be hammerhead sharks shallow where you drop in the water, and you may have 5 or 10 seconds to get a couple of shots before they decide to leave the area. Turn on your camera & strobes and set your strobe power correctly right before dropping into the water.

To photograph hammerheads, do not swim towards them, or swim in the water column, or away from the reef. You must hide behind a rock, and hope that they will swim over the rock near you. In a sense you are "hiding" a little bit. It helps if there have not been any divers swimming around blowing bubbles around your rock in the previous 20 minutes.

Rays - Eagle, Manta and Mobula

The Galapagos is full of rays - stingrays, manta rays, mobula rays, marbled rays, you name it. A good ray photo is carefully composed so the shot is taken when the wings are in the optimal position. Background exposure is also important to bring in the necessary amount of ambient light. Cabo Marshall is a great area for photographing rays, but it may take several dives to get the right conditions. Don't be afraid to swim "off reef" into the blue a little bit, as that as where a ray or group of rays may appear right in front of your eyes.

Mola mola - Oceanic Sunfish

The Mola mola were the highlight of my Galapagos trip. Group dynamics are key, because it only takes one diver to scare away the Mola mola. Doing a custom photo itinerary will allow you to do more dives looking for Mola mola than a regular Galapagos dive trip will permit. Punta Vicente Roca is where we saw them.

Birds - Galapagos Penguins & Flightless Cormorants

There is nothing that can compare to the first time you see a bird underwater. They are fast moving, fish seeking missles that sometimes act like they really don't care that you are around. "Catch me if you can", they say.

Red-lipped Batfish

The red-lipped batfish is a strange looking, deep dwelling fish that just begs to be photographed. The can move swiftly and don't like posing for photos, so getting a good shot can be more difficult than you would think. This is the one dive that I decided to switch to my macro lens.

Bonus encounter: Yellowfin Tuna

One of my favorite encounters in the Galapagos was with a pair of yellowfin tuna at Wolf Island that continuously made close passes to myself and my dive buddy, following us from a 20ft safety stop, down to 60ft, and thern back up to 20ft, looking at us the entire time.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Scott Gietler is the owner of Bluewater Photo, Bluewater Travel, and the Underwater Photography Guide. Bluewater Photo, based in Santa Monica, CA is one of the world’s largest and most prestigious underwater camera stores, serving many thousands of customers each year, where nothing is more important than customer service. The Underwater Photography Guide is the world’s first website to feature free tutorials on underwater photography, and has become the most trafficked resource on underwater photography worldwide. Bluewater Travel is a full-service dive travel wholesaler sending groups and individuals on the world’s best dive vacations.

Scott is also an avid diver, underwater photographer, and budding marine biologist, having created the online guide to the underwater flora and fauna of Southern California. He is the past vice-president of the Los Angeles Underwater Photographic Society, has volunteered extensively at the Santa Monica aquarium, and is the creator of the Ocean Art underwater photo competition, one of the largest underwater international photo competitions ever held in terms of value of prizes. He lives in California with his wife, newborn girl and scuba-diving, photo taking 4 year old son.

Photo adventure through the Mexico cenotes, including the best cenotes for photography, photo tips, travel advice, natural history and more

The Mayans believed that the cenotes where entryways into a sacred underground world. The dwellings of the rain god, Chaak, cenotes openings were used in special rituals and sacrificial events that coincide with a complicated celestial calendar.

Today there are still communities practicing rain ceremonies, however many more have learned just how special the cenotes really are. Divers from all over the world descend into the cool blue waters to explore the expansive system of caverns, tunnels and secret rooms lit by stunning sun rays under the jungle canopy.

Research buzzes in the cenotes as well, with discoveries of ancient skeletons up to 13,000 years old and even the bones of a mastodon.

What are the Cenotes?

Cenotes, aka sinkholes, are the upper portion of an expansive network of underwater cave systems in the Yucatan Peninsula of Mexico that expand all the way into the mountains of Belize. And while the cenotes are not all connected, many feed into vast local cave networks.

The cenotes were formed many years ago as tectonic plates shifted, raising coral reef systems above the surface of the ocean. Over time, this coral limestone was slowly eroded by rainwater, creating the caves and chambers of the cenotes. The rise and fall of water levels helped create the magnificent stalactites and stalagmites that divers see today.

Many of the cenotes are deep enough to connect to the water table, which in turn connects to the ocean. This unique setup means that the freshwater sits on top of saltwater. The area where they meet creates a halocline, which can only be descibed as a hazy interface between the layers. Divers who are able to visit less-frequented cenotes will be able to see these layers in their natural state (before being disturbed by passing divers), where even a slight frog kick twitch will send a burst of hazy water spiraling into the layer below.

A Typical Cenotes Trip

Playa Del Carmen is the ideal home base for visiting the cenotes, although diving can be also be done while staying in Cancun or Cozumel. There are many different operators who typically offer two dives per day with hotel/resort pickup and return, plus lunch. Our dive travel agency, Bluewater Travel, works with several excellent operators whose guides are fun, talented divers with full cave certifications. View our list of cenotes diving operators.

The most popular cenotes will generally have the best on-site facilities (bathrooms, changing rooms, tables for gear and even souvenirs), while the less popular and more advanced cenotes will feel more raw. Several cenotes, like Dos Ojos and Eden, offer snorkeling in the pools for non-divers.

One important note is that cenotes dives explore areas where an exit is always within sight, so while you are diving in an overhead environment, a full cave certification and tech-oriented gear is not necessary. Following the line and instructions of your guide remains critical to a fun dive, and the routes will occasionally feel like you're deep in a cave.

The cenotes water temperature is about 77F, so a good 3mil wetsuit is fine for most (5mil if you get cold easily). They can be dived year-round, with varying beams of light depending on time of day and season; fun times for photographers. Air temps are warm but mild in the winter months and hot with chance of mosquitos during summer months. Visibility is incredible in the cenotes.

Accommodation ranges from all-inclusive party resorts to quiet white-sand beach retreats. And with 26 different cenotes, divers can visit for an intensive dive week or just add one scuba dive day to their Riviera Maya vacation.

The Cenotes in Photos

These photos were shot during the Bluewater Photo small group cenotes & sailfish trip in late February. A huge thanks to our incredible guides (who have budding dive model careers ;- )) Cesar and Nico of Scuba Playa, based in Playa Del Carmen.

Schooling Silky Sharks are rarely seen - except in the waters surrounding a secluded rock in Columbian waters, known among regulars as "The Rock"

Located in the tropical region of Eastern Pacific, three hundred miles due West of the Colombian coast, the Island of Malpelo sits well off the beaten path. Only recently has it evolved from a “what's that” curiosity into a bucket-list dive destination offering unique opportunities for big-fish encounters (see our Malpelo Dive Guide). “The Rock” is a marvel of nature in itself. Inhospitable and awe-inspiring, the vertical cliffs of the island are at the same time mysteriously relaxing. For the rapidly growing number of Malpelo fans, the Rock is not just a favorite place where they go to dive – it is more like a Cathedral where you go to worship.

The sense of solitude here is absolute. Only one dive boat, with no more than 16 divers on board, is allowed in Malpelo waters at any one time. This means that the divemaster is free to choose the best dive site for the current conditions without worrying about a crowd. This isn’t always the case with other ocean island in the eastern Pacific. The most convenient liveaboard for Malpelo is Panama-based MV Yemaya.

Book Your Trip to Malpelo Island

The Fish

Malpelo is most commonly known for astonishing diversity of Pacific fish and year-round schooling hammerhead sharks. Gigantic whale sharks cruise the islands waters in summer, and moray eels are so abundant here that you can often see them free-swimming in the daylight. But the most emblematic Malpelo specialty is, of course, the schooling silkies.

The silky sharks, so named after their smooth skin, bear the scientific name Carcharhinus, which is derived from the Greek "karcharos" (sharp) and "rhinos" (nose) and fairly reflects the shape of the shark’s snout. Silky sharks are curious creatures, highly responsive to water splashing. This often lures them into the fishing nets and makes Silkies the most common shark bycatch in gill net fishing.

Silky sharks are casual warm-water inhabitants. You can run into a large aggregation of silkies in practically all tropical waters, yet only in Malpelo do they school like the hammerheads. Classic schooling behavior includes swimming in the same direction, tightly packed together, and in a seemingly organized and coordinated manner. An organized pack of hundreds of sharks might sound frightening and, indeed, at 10 feet and armed with sharp teeth, silky sharks are potentially dangerous - but certainly not when they are schooling like this.

The Shark School

Shark schooling is still a mystery. Even for hammerhead sharks, whose schooling behavior has been observed for years, there is no firm consensus on the reason why the sharks amass in some special places in such big numbers. They do not mate, they do not feed, and they are definitely not aggressive when schooling. Another basic aspect of everyday fish life – cleaning – looks rather like a distraction from schooling than the purpose of the school itself. The benefit of swimming energetics, which is obvious for light-zipping tuna schools, is doubtful for relatively slow-moving sharks. Predator confusion and avoidance, so important for small anchovies and sardines, is even less an issue for sharks. Apparently, shark schooling is more advanced, probably social type of activity, so it is not accidental that the more sociable silkies often intermix with hammerhead schools while sharks mixing the other way around are quite uncommon.

Silkies school in Malpelo’s waters during the summer season, from May to August. Interestingly, another place where schools of Silky Sharks have been also observed, though not on such a regular basis as in Malpelo, is another “Rock” in Mexican waters – the famous Roca Partida of the Revillagigedos (Socorro) Archipelago. Actually, both islands have a lot in common – both are solitary batholiths, protruding from the ocean abyss and serving – one of the guesses – as navigation points for big pelagic fish migrations.

Despite being one of the highlights in diving Malpelo, schooling Silky Sharks are still rare, and encountering a school is by no means guaranteed. Four of my five Malpelo trips were scheduled during summer seasons but only the last one (the 2015 El Niño year) eventually brought me that opportunity. If you want to assure the success of your trip, pay attention to the divemaster blog on the MV Yemaya website. There, you will find the invaluable information about current conditions in Malpelo and prognoses for the rest of the season. And, finally, when you do see the school, how do you bring home that incredible photo?

Shooling Silky Sharks Photo Tips

As a photographer facing schooling silky sharks, the first and most important decision you have to make is if you want to capture the school as an entity or if you need it just as a backdrop for a solitary shark picture. Both options are readily available with schooling silkies. They are not as shy as hammerhead sharks and the encounter will most likely happen in the open blue water. For shooting portraits, you can move carefully and actually get inside the school. The main school will keep a little distance, but some most curious sharks will eagerly come in for a close-up, leaving the remaining sharks as a nice background.

Shark close-ups are very tempting, but remember to mix it up and shoot a variety of compositions. During my last lucky trip, we had schooling Silkies every day and on every dive, literally getting spoiled by the generosity of Malpelo Island. To my dismay, I found myself without the most valuable shot - the picture of the entire school. Think ahead and plan properly. For this article, we have included a classic photo of Malpelo’s schooling silkies taken by outstanding Czech photographer Tomáš Kotouč.

The school. Photo Tomáš Kotouč, with permission.

Unlike schooling hammerheads, the warm water loving silky sharks usually stay in the top “blue” layer of the water column. This gives the fortunate photographer more ambient light as well as better overall dive conditions and provides more choices for shooting. Some choices, however, may be hard to make. One of the toughest decisions is whether or not to use strobes. The great visibility of blue water is often spoiled by the abundance of suspended plankton in the upper levels, and in this situation, avoiding the flash entirely might be a wise choice for shooting the full school.

More Schooling Fish

Though schooling silkies still somewhat rare at Malpelo, other schooling fish are generally not. Schooling Pacific barracudas and big-eye jacks are guaranteed in Malpelo, just like seeing some free-swimming Moray eels. Dense polarized schools of small snappers and grunts are also a common sight in Eastern Pacific. A site unique to Malpelo are the extraordinarily large schools of mullet snappers, which otherwise prefer swimming in pairs or in small groups of only a few fish.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Mikhail Kisin is a Russian physicist struggling to match his tightfisted vacation time to the generous travel opportunities of the New World. He writes for two Russian dive magazines. If your liveaboard is booked by Russians, blame him.